


Let's Go to the Mall

by Bellakitse



Series: 30 days of Tarlos [10]
Category: 9-1-1: Lone Star (TV 2020)
Genre: Declarations Of Love, Established Relationship, Gen, Kid Fic, M/M, Meet the Family, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-10
Updated: 2020-06-10
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:15:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24652939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bellakitse/pseuds/Bellakitse
Summary: While at the mall, TK finds a little girl crying because she can't find her mother and uncle. Imagine TK's surprise when her uncle turns out to be his boyfriend.
Relationships: Carlos Reyes/TK Strand
Series: 30 days of Tarlos [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1769356
Comments: 46
Kudos: 650





	Let's Go to the Mall

**Author's Note:**

> Yep, it's another [lauraperfectinsanity](https://lauraperfectinsanity.tumblr.com/) prompt, what can I say, she has awesome fic ideas.
> 
> Also the title is from Robin Sparkles, blame [InsidiousIntent](https://archiveofourown.org/users/InsidiousIntent)
> 
> 30 days of Tarlos - Day 10

TK is walking the mall after work with a couple of bags in hand. It’s getting hotter in Texas by the day, and while he wasn’t a stranger to hot days in New York City, he’s starting to realize he didn’t bring nearly enough light-weight clothes as he needs to survive a state that’s more hot than cold when he moved.

He isn’t really a mall guy, too many people for his liking, but he’s starting to get desperate. He’s changing clothes more often due to the heat, and neither he nor his dad are great about doing laundry in a timely matter. Yet another reason why he’s at the mall still mostly in his uniform, having only changed from his navy dress shirt to his grey Austin Fire t-shirt. He _really_ needs new clothes and to do some laundry.

He’s debating going into another store when he hears quiet crying to the left of him. He turns his head in that direction to find a little girl with curly brown hair crying a few feet away from him as she sits on a bench. Looking around quickly, he frowns as he notices that no one is approaching her and that she seems to be very much alone. She can’t be over ten years old.

Tightening his hold on his bags, he starts to approach her, trying to give her a reassuring smile when her eyes go wide as she spots him.

“Hi,” he says softly, kneeling down to her eye level as she looks at him warily. “Are you okay?”

She stares at him for a moment before shaking her head silently.

“Are you lost?” he asks, letting out a sound of understanding when she nods.

“I lost my mami, and tio,” she finally speaks, her voice a little squeaky, her bottom lip trembling in such a way that TK has to stop himself from reaching out to hug her. The last thing she needs is a strange man scaring her.

“We’ll find them,” he promises her, looking around quickly to see if he can spot anyone looking frantic. “My name is TK, I’m a firefighter,” he continues, twisting around so she can see the back of his t-shirt, hoping it will calm her down a bit. It seems to work, she still looks shaky, but the tears are stopping.

“I’m Mari,” she whispers back as she looks at him with those big eyes of hers. “My tio is a police officer,” she shares.

“Really?” TK asks with a smile. “Well, maybe I’ve worked with him.”

Mari smiles back, flashing cute bunny teeth at him.

“Mari, do you know your mom’s phone number?” he asks as he pulls out his phone. “Or maybe your uncle’s? We can call and tell them where you are so they can come to get you.”

Mari shakes her head, her eyes filling up again. “I don’t know it,” she gets out, a big fat teardrop rolling down her cheek, and this time TK can’t help but reach out.

“Hey, hey, hey, Mari,” he says quickly and softly, touching her shoulder gently. “It’s okay.”

Mari shakes her head.

“I promise, Mari, it’s going to be fine, sweetheart,” he assures her. He pulls his hand back to reach into his pocket, grateful he always carries a tissue or two. Holding it up to her, he smiles when she takes it. “If you don’t know their numbers, that’s okay.”

“But how will I find my Mami?” she questions, clenching and twisting the tissue tight in her hands.

TK thinks for a moment before smiling again. “Okay, this is what we’re going to do,” he starts as he goes back to his feet.

“We’re going to go to the information desk by the mall entrance, and we’ll ask them to call your mom over the speaker,” he tells her, giving her a reassuring look as she stares up at him. “And I’ll stay with you until she shows up. How does that sound?”

Mari studies him for a moment longer before nodding in agreement as she stands up.

“Great,” he says happily, he moves to hold all his bags in one hand, extending the other to her. “Would you like to hold my hand?”

Mari smiles up at him; thankfully, there aren’t any more tears in her eyes as she takes his hand.

As they walk towards the front of the mall, Mari asks him about being a firefighter. TK answers her questions to keep her amused. She asks about the hose and the trucks, about rescuing kittens from trees as they wait in the information office while the head of security calls for the relatives of Mari Gutierrez-Reyes over the speakers.

“Do you drive the truck?”

“I don’t usually, but I know how,” he tells her.

“And you go into burning buildings?” she continues, her eyes going wide when he nods at her.

“Do you get scared?” she whispers.

“Sometimes,” he whispers back. “But I have a really good team, and they make sure I don’t get hurt.”

“That’s really cool,” Mari says with a smile. She’s calmed down a lot now that her family has been called.

“Can I tell you a secret?” she continues whispering, waving him closer. TK does as she asks and leans in. “My tio sometimes lets me play with the lights of his squad car when he visits.”

TK smiles at her excited grin. “That’s pretty cool of him.”

Mari nods quickly. “My tio Carlos is the coolest.”

TK opens his mouth to ask about her uncle just as the door to the office bursts open, a beautiful woman with wild curly hair stands there looking frantic, resting a hand on her chest when her eyes land on Mari.

“Mari, mi amor,” she exclaims.

“Mami!” Mari shouts, already out of her chair running to the woman who wraps her up in a tight hug.

“Oh my god, nena,” Mari’s mother continues to hold her, kissing her all over her face. “I was so scared when I couldn’t find you. What happened?”

“I don’t know,” Mari starts, sounding close to tears again. “I walked away to look at a shirt with a rainbow on it, and then when I looked for you, you and tio weren’t there anymore. I’m sorry, Mami.”

TK watches as the woman hugs Mari again and tells her it’s okay. He so busy watching them he startles when the woman’s eyes catch his.

“Who are you?” she asks as she lets go of her daughter.

“Mami, this is TK,” Mari says brightly, looking back at him with a smile. “He found me and brought me here to call for you and tio,” Mari pauses, looking around with a frown. “Where’s tio Carlos?”

“Probably calling every cop on shift to come to the mall and look for you,” she answers dryly as she pulls out her phone, pressing it to her ear.

“I’m Sofía, by the way,” she says as she sticks her hand out to him. “Thank you so much for your help.”

“No problem,” he answers, just as the person on the other end of the line picks up.

“Hey, mano, I have Mari, we’re at the information office,” she says, listening to her brother for a moment before telling him that they’ll wait for him there.

Once she ends the call, Sofía turns to him again. “TK, right?” she asks, giving him a half-smile when he nods. “Thank you again for bringing Mari here and staying with her.”

“TK’s a firefighter, Mami,” Mari tells her. “It’s his job to help, like tio. Right TK?”

“That’s right, Mari,” TK smiles down at the little girl – her smiles are contagious – before he looks back at her mom. “Well, now that she’s safely back with you, I should get going.”

“No, you have to wait for my tio Carlos,” Mari exclaims. “You said you’ve worked with him.”

“I said _maybe_ I’ve worked with him,” he corrects her. “I work with a lot of police officers.”

He thinks about the one in particular he’s been seeing a lot of on, and _off_ work.

“Stay, TK, pleaseeee,” Mari begs, clasping her hands together under her chin.

TK can’t help but laugh, sharing an amused look with Sofía.

“Okay,” he says to her, shaking his head when she does a happy little hop. “I’ll stay until your uncle shows up.”

“Maybe then we can go for ice cream?” Mari asks, looking up at her mother with big hopeful eyes. TK covers his mouth to keep from smirking as her mother gives her an incredulous look.

“You really think ice cream is what you deserve after wandering off, Mari?” says a very familiar voice, followed by a very familiar face and body TK is intimately acquainted with, his boyfriend, Carlos.

“Tio Carlos!,” Mari says happily as she turns around. She jumps in the air, and it’s obviously something Carlos is used to since he catches her with ease, pulling her into a bear hug as her legs dangle off the ground.

“You scared the hell out of me, Mari,” he says, pulling back to give her a stern face, only for it to soften a moment later when he hugs her again. “You can’t wander off like that, sweet girl. You’re going to give me grey hairs.”

“I’m sorry, Tio Carlos,” Mari apologizes, the words muffled into the crook of his neck.

TK watches as Carlos holds the little girl tight, eyes closed in relief. When they open, locking on him, he can see the shock in them.

“TK,” he whispers, still holding his niece.

“Hey, Carlos,” he says back awkwardly, aware that Mari and Sofía are now looking at him curiously.

“What are you doing here?” Carlos questions as he puts Mari back down and walks towards him.

“I found Mari crying,” he starts to explain. “She couldn’t remember her mom’s number, so I brought her here so they could call over the speakerphone,” he finishes saying just as Carlos pulls him into a tight hug of his own.

TK returns it instinctively. He doesn’t know how not to sink into Carlos embrace anymore; he craves it all the time since they decided to give their relationship a real try while on the hood of his car. He hugs him tighter when he feels Carlos slightly shake.

“Thank you,” Carlos says softly against his ear, and TK can’t help but bring his hand up to cup his cheek as he pulls back to look at him. Carlos’ soft brown eyes are similar to Mari’s.

“Of course,” he says just as gently, his heart skipping a beat when Carlos turns his head slightly to kiss his palm.

“So you do know my tio, TK?” Mari asks, reminding them of their audience.

TK looks over Carlos’ shoulder to find her watching them both with a curious look, while her mother, Sofía, looks at them both with a knowing grin.

“I’ll say,” she says, looking in Carlos’ direction, smirking when Carlos blushes.

“ _Sofía_ ,” Carlos says her name in warning, before letting out a sigh as he looks down at Mari.

“Mari, sweetheart,” he starts softly as he goes down to her eye level. “You remember how I explained that some times boys like other boys, instead of girls, the same as some girls like girls, instead of boys?”

Mari nods very seriously, and TK’s heart squeezes at how precious she is.

“And I explain how I like boys?” he questions, getting another nod from Mari.

“Love is love,” Mari answers, and TK feels his eyes sting at how easily she accepts the concept. He looks at Sofía, sharing a watery grin with her. He doesn’t know her yet, but as she smiles softly back at him, he thinks that he can’t wait to know her better.

“Right, sweet girl, love is love,” Carlos smiles proudly at his niece as he runs a tender hand over her curls. Well, TK is the boy I really, really, like.”

Mari looks over at him, and TK finds himself holding his breath. Kids, he’s discovered are excellent judges of character, and he doesn’t want her to find him lacking.

“So, he’s your boyfriend?” Mari questions Carlos.

“Yes, Mari,” Carlos nods. He looks at him over his shoulder, flashing him a smile that makes his heart skip. “TK is my boyfriend.”

Mari looks back at him, a small frown on her face. “Do you _really, really,_ like my tio, TK?” she questions as seriously as a nine-year-old can.

“I really, _really_ do, Mari,” he answers honestly. “I like him so much.”

“I can’t believe Valentina and Lola are missing this,” Sofía mutters, and TK’s not sure who they are, but the comment makes Carlos groan.

“Do you like my tio as much as ice cream?” Mari continues with the questions, this time with a twinkle in her eyes that TK understands, making him smile.

“Well, I mean, it’s ice cream, Mari,” he starts teasingly. “I like your tio, but I _love_ ice cream.”

“Maybe if tio got you some ice cream, you would love him too,” Mari says innocently, and it takes everything in TK not to laugh at the priceless look on Carlos’ face.

“That’s a good point, Mari,” he says thoughtfully, looking over at Carlos with a smirk.

Carlos gives them both a serious look that only lasts five seconds before he caves. “ _Fine_ , we’ll get ice cream.”

“He already has you wrapped around his finger,” Sofía laughs mockingly at Carlos. “I’m group texting Valentina and Lola, Carlos; I’m sorry, mano, they have to know.”

Carlos groans again. “Great, we’ll get ice cream, while my sisters conference about my love life, _awesome_ ,” he says, pouting.

TK can’t hold back a snicker, grinning when Carlos looks over at him adorably betrayed. Sofía pays him no mind as she takes Mari’s hand and texts with the other, probably to her and Carlos’ other sisters.

“You laugh now, but by the time we’re done with the ice cream, those three will have made a plan to meet you that will probably end up with me terribly embarrassed,” Carlos warns him, letting out a sigh when he presses a soft kiss at the corner of his mouth as he wraps his arm around his waist.

“Thank you for finding Mari,” Carlos says again as they walk behind his sister and niece towards the ice cream shop.

“No problem,” he answers, leaning into him when Carlos throws an arm over his shoulder. They walk in silence for a moment before Carlos sneaks a look at him. “So you really, _really_ like me back, huh?”

“Yep, don’t tell Mari, but I like you even more than ice cream,” he says with a grin, the beautiful bright smile he gets from Carlos right before he stops to kiss him sends his heart racing.

**Author's Note:**

> [tumblr](https://bellakitse.tumblr.com/)


End file.
